Assessing gene-environment interactions for common and rare variants with binary traits using gene-trait similarity regression.

ABSTRACT: Accounting for gene-environment (G×E) interactions in complex trait association studies can facilitate our understanding of genetic heterogeneity under different environmental exposures, improve the ability to discover susceptible genes that exhibit little marginal effect, provide insight into the biological mechanisms of complex diseases, help to identify high-risk subgroups in the population, and uncover hidden heritability. However, significant G×E interactions can be difficult to find. The sample sizes required for sufficient power to detect association are much larger than those needed for genetic main effects, and interactions are sensitive to misspecification of the main-effects model. These issues are exacerbated when working with binary phenotypes and rare variants, which bear les

SUBMITTER: Zhao G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4349065 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature